It is my recollection that in the 1950s male/male sex was just regarded as something horney guys did when they couldn’t get dates. It wasn’t condoned but It did not imply that they were exclusive or different. I believe the term queer became attached to those who began to seek an identity with rallies and parades and such in San Francisco.
The term gay appeared later. I think I first heard it in news broadcasts about the New York riots. I thought it odd at the time.